


Surprise!

by DualWieldingCousland (DualWieldingMama)



Series: Starting Over [4]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 00:41:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4685687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DualWieldingMama/pseuds/DualWieldingCousland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When she heard that Alistair hadn't really done anything HE wanted when Cailan and Anora took him out, Regan came up with a plan.  Executing that plan takes some effort, though.  In the end, is it worth it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprise!

**Author's Note:**

> Appearances by Duncan & Sten, mentions of lots of others from Origins and various DLCs

“Thank you, Duncan. You have _no_ idea how much I appreciate this.”

“It’ll do him some good, really. I … I think he needs … friends like you. I’ll make sure he knows there’s been a change to the schedule.”

“Perfect. You are the best. I’ll message you when I’m on my way. Have a good evening.” Regan smiled to herself as she ended the call. Ever since Alistair had mentioned his birthday was coming up, she’d been plotting … planning the perfect birthday celebration for him. Unlike his half-brother, she wanted to do the things _he_ enjoyed, while at the same time, surprising him with it.

They had already made plans to see a late showing of the latest superhero movie … the one he kept saying he _really_ wanted to see; she’d already purchased the tickets and even made arrangements with the theater to make sure they’d have the best seats. But she’d planned to do more.

Zevran had, somewhat surprisingly, been happy to help, and been her co-conspirator since she’d come up with the vaguest outline of plans. He’d put her in touch with their captain, Duncan. He’d kept everyone else from asking Alistair what he was doing for his birthday; he wanted it to seem like they’d forgotten. He’d even worked with her to figure out the best course of action, and threatened bodily harm to any security guard who might be likely to spill the beans. She’d spent so much time in the mall’s office plotting with Zevran that Alistair started to get a little jealous, though he kept telling himself he had no right to be. It wasn’t like the two were dating, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“But Duncan, I _never_ … I mean, I … thought last week was just a one-time thing?” Alistair stopped himself from downright whining, barely, but he didn’t hide the fact that he wasn’t happy. Duncan had just informed him that there was a mandatory meeting scheduled for Friday night, since he wanted _all_ the security guards to attend; both day and night shift. There was no telling how late these meetings would run, which meant that for another Friday, he’d have to cancel movie night. And this time, he wouldn’t be able to make it up on Saturday; he still had to work that night as well.

“I’m sorry, Alistair, but this is important.” Duncan felt a little bad about lying to the younger man; they’d been close since the day Alistair had started. But he’d seen the way the two looked at each other the few times she’d come up to visit, whether either of them knew it or not. And, he felt the surprise would be good for Alistair. “Corporate sent down some new rules that need to be gone over, and Friday evening was the only time I could get _everyone_ here.”

Alistair sighed, knowing he’d never convince his boss to let him skip the meeting. He could just … not show, but that would get him into trouble he didn’t think he could joke his way out of. “Alright. I’ll … I’ll be there … here.” His shoulders slumped as he clocked out for his last break for the day. He was going to have to call her … tell her he had to bail on _their_ night for the second week in a row. He stared at his phone, wondering why it bothered him _so_ much that he wouldn’t be able to spend another Friday evening with her … and he _still_ wouldn’t be seeing that new superhero movie. Maybe fate hated him?

He waited until he was in his car; might as well make it as private as possible. He’d always hated seeing people arguing over their cell phones in the mall. Not that he thought they’d argue … exactly. He just … worried about ruining the plans she’d made for his birthday; that was it, surely. He hoped she hadn’t gone to too much trouble. She’d made mention of taking him to the movies last week and he’d really been looking forward to it, as silly as it sounded. “Hey, Regan.” He spoke softly, trying not to sound as down as he felt.

“Hey Alistair; I’m getting ready to hop on a conference call. What’s up? You OK?”

He found himself smiling as soon as he heard her voice. She always sounded so happy to hear from him. “I’m … yeah, I’m OK, mostly.” He knew he’d have to hurry if she was getting ready to get on a conference call. Of course, he also knew how much she hated those things. “I just … Duncan just told me there’s a mandatory staff meeting Friday evening, and he doesn’t have any clue how long it’ll last. So … I won’t be able to make it Friday.”

“Well, that’s annoying,” she muttered, doing her best to frown into the phone. He couldn’t see, but she hoped the frowning would help convey the proper amount of disappointment. Acting had never been her strong suit. “I already bought the tickets for the movie.” She sighed, kicked her foot into the floor. Maker, how did people fool their friends so easily? She felt like a jerk even doing this much … and it was for a _good_ reason.

“I’m sorry.” He slumped in his seat, feeling like he was disappointing her, even though it wasn’t _his_ fault. At least she didn’t sound like she was blaming him, yet. “You should go. See if someone else wants to go with you? You really shouldn’t let it go to waste on my account.”

Maker, she _hated_ lying to him. He sounded so damned sad. She reminded herself that it was just an act, that he was going to go to see the movie with her, whether he knew it or not. “No way; I’m not spending your birthday gift on someone else.” Her heart leapt a little at his laugh, feeling the smile only he could bring out start. She’d just have to keep the charade up for a couple more days. “I promise, we’ll get it figured out. But I have to go. Fergus expects me to actually _talk_ on this call, so I have to prepare myself.”

“Alright, but I still feel horrible about this.” He ignored her assurance that it wasn’t _his_ fault and ended the call, letting his head fall back against the headrest in frustration. He slipped his phone back into his pocket as he climbed out of the car. He had three more hours to go, then he could figure out how to apologize for his work screwing up their birthday plans … her plans … whoever’s plans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“For the love of the Maker, hurry _up_ Zevran!” Regan wished she could get the Antivan to move a little faster with the knot he was working on. If it had been up to her, she would have done all the set-up by herself. But they only had a short amount of time to get the room arranged for the surprise and she _still_ hadn’t heard from the restaurant she’d ordered the food from, so any help she could get was appreciated. Luckily, the actual restaurant was only about ten minutes away.

“There, all done.” He climbed down the ladder to survey his handiwork; the _Happy Birthday_ banner draped perfectly between two columns. “I must say, I am surprised to see you going through so much work for just a friend.” He was still trying to figure out exactly what type of friendship the two had. Their behavior most days hinted at ‘couple’, but that night at karaoke still made him wonder. She’d seemed rather close to the stranger who’d gone up to sing with her. Of course, she _had_ left, arm in arm, with Alistair. It was all very … confusing. And he didn’t want to offend his friend by asking her out if they _were_ a thing.

“Who says he’s _just_ a friend?” She cocked her head to the side, critically examining the banner to make sure it was hung just so. It was. “Besides, he said he never does _anything_ he enjoys on his birthday. His own brother couldn’t even bother to make the effort to do something _he_ wanted. I just … I wanted him to feel … _special_ for once, y’know?” Her phone went off, saving him from having to answer. “Great. Someone will be there in a few minutes.” She looked over at Zevran, “Need your phone number. When I get back with the food, I’ll call you so you can let me in, OK?”

“Well, that’s one way to get a pretty girl’s phone number,” he laughed, rattling off the familiar digits. “I shall be waiting with bated breath.”

“See you soon.” Just before disappearing out the door, she turned to look around the room once more. “Make sure people know to be _quiet_ when they get here. Can’t have anyone spoiling the surprise.” When she received his nod, she darted out of the building, sprinting for her car. She hoped Alistair liked what she’d arranged. Andraste preserve her, she really wanted him to like it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alistair found himself following Duncan down the dark corridor in the bowels of the mall. He’d been stationed at the far end of the building, patrolling the halls surrounded by stores equally full of snarky adolescents and crotchety octogenarians, certain this was some sort of punishment … maybe for whining about the meeting. And while he was thankful that the mall had closed early for the day, he was getting more and more nervous about whatever this meeting was for. Duncan rarely held all-employee meetings, and the fact that it was due to an order from Corporate didn’t help. But, why were the lights so dim?

“I’ve got to check one thing before the meeting starts. Go on in and get settled, Alistair.”

Alistair watched as Duncan ducked into another doorway before reaching for the handle. Whatever the meeting was about, he might as well get it over with. He turned the handle and shoved the door open, only barely wondering why the room that was _supposed_ to house the meeting was dark. He flipped the light switch … and damn near jumped out of his skin.

“SURPRISE!!!”

A chorus of voices made him jump and the “Happy Birthday!” that followed had him slumping against the door frame, heart racing.

“Who …? What the …?” He looked around the room and saw _all_ of his coworkers, even Shayle, the crotchety woman who patrolled the parking lot at night because she _hated_ being watched by birds during the day. He saw Wynne, Zevran, Taliesin, Daveth and Jory … Finn, Ariane, and Petra were even there; and Duncan was suddenly standing right next to him. And then there were the few people he considered friends that _weren’t_ employed by the mall – Riordan and Sigrun and even Oghren. “How did you … how did you all even _know_?” He’d hardly even spoken about his birthday, with _any_ of them. Without a word, the cluster of people drifted apart, allowing someone carrying a cake to pass. His eyes traveled up from the cake and he stared.

Regan moved carefully, not wanting to drop the cake she’d had made especially for him. It was decorated to look like a large wedge of cheese, complete with a bite taken out. But he barely even registered that. His focus locked solely on _her._ She had a nervous smile on her face, hair mostly loose, held back from her face by a pair of gryphon barrettes. Her favorite jeans and sneakers, of course, but what he could see of the purple shirt was certainly _not_ the normal style of t-shirt she preferred. He could make out a hint of pink on her cheeks when she caught him staring. “You … _you_ did this … for me?”

She nodded, sucking her lower lip between her teeth. She felt her cheeks warm, her ears following suit as he just _looked_ at her, stunned. “I … just wanted you to have a _good_ birthday,” she murmured, suddenly feeling quite awkward. She couldn’t stop the worry that he hated it, that he was upset, somehow. She cautiously set the cake aside, then clasped her hands behind her back, watching … waiting for his reaction. Maker, if she’d read him wrong all this time … if he really _was_ upset with her for assuming his coworkers were his friends, for calling attention to his birthday when he’d said he never did anything for it … for _anything…_.

“ _You_ set this up … all for _me_?” He tried to make his brain catch up to what was going on. “You arranged for our movie night to get cancelled so you … could … could surprise me with cake … and cheese?” When she nodded, whatever had been holding him in place kind of … snapped. He darted forward, wrapped his arms around her and lifted her from the ground, hugging her close. “Thank you,” he whispered, burying his nose in her hair just above her ear. He brought his lips to her cheek, brushing them ever so gently against the warm pink skin _so_ near her mouth. “You are … amazing.”

When she was finally back on the ground, Regan reached up to brush a strand of hair away from her face. “You’re welcome, Alistair.” She felt an odd urge to reach out and touch him, to brush her fingers over his cheeks, his lips. But she resisted, settling for resting a hand on his arm and turning him to face the others. “I think you might even have some gifts, as well.” She slipped a card into his hand, kissed his cheek, and moved out of the way, letting the friends that _had_ brought gifts hand them over while she rearranged the various cheeses on the table and did her best to control the damned blushing.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can’t believe you did all this for _me_.” Alistair was still stunned she’d gone through that much effort, and even more-so that she’d been able to convince Duncan to go along with it. Not only had he been willing to rearrange schedules so that Alistair would _have_ to be there that night, he changed it enough so that he could be off the following day as well; no need to rush home to sleep. “No one’s ever ….”

“Why wouldn’t I, Alistair?” She reached out, brushed her fingers against his hand before stuffing them quickly into her pockets. Maker’s ass she was acting like a child. What was she even doing? “You’re speci - … important to me. I wanted to make sure you had a … good birthday.”

She sighed softly, moving ahead to lead him into the theater lobby. She smiled at the usher, a rather tall man with a sour look on his face. Of course, considering the large contingent of teenagers in one corner, it was understandable. When she held up their tickets, the man left his post and led them to the room for their movie. He pointed up the stairs to a pair of roped off seats and gave her a nod, and the barest hint of a smile, then left.

Alistair could feel the eyes of everyone else in the theater watching them as they made their way to the seats. The entire row was actually sectioned off, with those two seats receiving double barricades. He paused, moving forward only after Regan gave him a gentle nudge. “What … what about popcorn?” he managed to ask as he finally sat down.

“Taken care of,” she promised, grinning. Not ten seconds had passed before someone … the same man who’d shown them to their seats … returned, carrying a bucket of popcorn in one massive hand and two drinks in the other. “Thank you Sten. I take it the interview went well?” She smiled wider when he informed her that he’d already turned in his notice. “Wonderful. I’m sure you’ll like it better than here. If nothing else, your new coworkers won’t be quite so hard to get along with.”

“Who was that?” Alistair whispered once the stranger had left. He had a slew of questions … who was that, how did she know him, how had she gotten him to _deliver_ the popcorn to them … and none of them could be asked without sounding paranoid or jealous. “And what in the Maker’s name did you have to promise him to get him to _deliver_ our popcorn?”

“That’s Sten. I met him a few months ago when I decided to check out a horror flick with a couple friends from back home.” She shrugged, settling into her seat with the popcorn held out enough so that he could help himself. “And it really wasn’t as bad as you think. Didn’t have to _do_ much, really; just got him an interview with Duncan for a job with you all. I know you’re short-handed, and you pay _much_ better than this place. He seems excited.”

“ _That’s_ him excited?”

She just grinned, nodded and pointed at the screen; the previews were starting. “Don’t worry,” she whispered, watching him take a handful of popcorn. “He’ll do fine. Now, let’s enjoy this superhero of yours.”

“I’d enjoy it more if we could sit more like we do at the apartment,” he whispered, gently nudging her arm from the armrest. With a grin, he lifted the offending blockage, tucking it between the seats. He’d never really appreciated the theater having _this_ kind of seat before, despite having brought previous dates to see movies. His smile faded slightly as he watched her eyes dart from her arm to the armrest to him and back again, but then she shifted, snuggling against him with a contented sigh. He let his hand fall, settle comfortably on her shoulder as he hugged her to him.

“Happy birthday, Alistair,” she whispered, leaning up to kiss his cheek before trying to turn her attention to the screen. It was a struggle to ignore the heat in her cheeks and the faint pressure of his hand on her shoulder, but she was happy, comfortable. She just hoped he was as well.

“Best birthday ever,” he murmured, kissing her hair. He tried to focus on the movie, but found his mind wandering to the girl next to him, and just how … right things felt with her. No one had ever done so much for him … not for his birthday, not for anything. Maker’s breath, she was _amazing._


End file.
